Under the microscope: Shaun Edwards and colleague Fergus Connolly were each banned for seven days and fined £500 for an altercationPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Graham Clutton

8:22PM BST 27 Mar 2011

Edwards and Connolly, the Welsh Rugby Union’s sports scientist, were each fined £500 and subsequently banned for seven days by the Wales team management after an altercation at the team hotel.

Edwards on Sunday admitted that he and Connolly had been involved in a “scuffle” at the Vale of Glamorgan resort, but he told the Sunday Times: “I definitely did not headbutt him.”

Edwards, who combines his Welsh role with his job as head coach to Wasps, confirmed the incident was sparked over a well-known Irish folk song sung on the Wales team bus on the way back from the after-match dinner at the Hilton Hotel in Cardiff.

It has been alleged that Edwards replaced the words “I’ve been a wild rover for many a year” with the phrase “I’ve been a wife beater for many a year”. Connolly is understood to have remonstrated with Edwards over his rendition.

In the article Edwards was quoted as saying: “Fergus got the wrong end of the stick with a song which was a bit of fun with the lads. He approached me afterwards clearly annoyed and there was an altercation; our heads may have touched because we were standing so close to each other, but I definitely did not headbutt him.

“Fergus has always been one of my best mates in the squad and we are now friends again. No one has ever seen me drunk or out of order in a rugby situation. My record as a player and a coach speaks for itself and I always tried to conduct myself properly.”

Edwards met WRU group chief executive Roger Lewis in London on Thursday, after which the matter was all but closed. The WRU has refused to comment, claiming it is an “internal matter”.

Edwards said at the end of last week: “The meeting with Roger Lewis confirmed I will see out my Wales contract, starting with Barbarians at the start of June and going on to New Zealand in the autumn.

“There are weeks you’d rather forget, and I hope that is precisely what I am allowed to do with this one.”

Edwards joined the Wales coaching team shortly after Gatland’s arrival in January 2008. He was an integral part of the Grand Slam-winning squad that season and has been lauded since for his work with the Wales defence.